Bell housing repair assembly



' 0a. 16, 1951 T, GERNER 2,571,562

BELL HOUSING REPAIR ASSEMBLY Filed May 16, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 06L1951 T. c. GERNER BELL HOUSING REPAIR ASSEMBLY 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed May16, 1947 I u ventor Theodore Q Garner Patented Oct. 16, 1951 UNITEDSTATES PATEN T 'O FFI CE BELL HoUs'i'NG REPAiR ASSEMBLY Theodore '0.Gamer, Oklahoma City, Okla. Application Ma '16, 19471,Sefial-No."748,603

This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in "a bellhousing repair assembly and more specifieauy pertains to areconditioningor replacement unit for restoring the wo'rn surfaces of the bearingengagement of a bell housing and it's seat, in certain types ofautomotive vehicle drive shaft assemblies. I

In order to better understand the purposes and fundamental concept ofthis invention, the following explanation will be of assista'nce. Incertain types of automotive vehicles and in "partitular in theWell-known Chevrolet automobile made in "the years 1929 through 1947inclusive, there is a'ne'cessar'y and appreciable longitudinal movementor sliding engagement 'of 'th'e propllei' shaft housing 'with relationto the transmission "driving shaft. "This movement is of:- ca's'iened bythe rear end s ring mounting arrangahent 'o'f 'the Chevrolet automobile,and is a assert 'ofthe sen-m of the springs'and isparti'oularlynhticeabl'e during the apfili'cation of the S'iiVibebiakes(fifth e 'V ehile. 'in order to tolerate aiid jaceo'inmodatethisreiafiveiongitueinai 'mOVe- Infit, this make 'Of 'autijfiidbile isprovided With What is known as -a bell he'fising assmbiy. consists of asleeve surrounding the propeller shaftjwhi'eh sleeve 'isnrov ided withan enlarged semi-spherical holl'otv end formihga bell housingsurrounding the universal jointf'whioh Connects the trahsr'nissioh'dr'ive 'sh'a'ft 'tifith the propeller shaft or the 'vehi'ole and whichbell housing is swiveu received in "a bll l'i'ou sihg Seat extendingfriiin therear of the transmission ease assembly. By thisonstructionfthe bell housing has a ball and secret engagement with thetransmission case, ane inay freely swivel relative thereto while the"propeller "shaft is spline'd to the universal joiht and may 'movelongitudinally thereof, and the propeller shaft housing has freelongitudinal movement tvithinthe "bell housing sleeve.

The "foregoing construction is well-known, and is embodied in minions ofwellknown chevrolt automobile ears. As will readily be appreciated, theswivelling "and sliding movement "of the associated 'pa'rts soon resultsin excessive wear between the bell housin and its seat, which permits adetrimental and objectionable rattle or knock between these fia'r'ts"due to "theex'ce'ssive wear and clearance developed thereby, andfurther results iha leakage of grease from the associated mechanisms. inorder to correct this defeet, it has heretofore been'neeessaryto removeor'partially dismantle the rear end and the propeller shaft housing of acar, in order to replace the bell housing sleeve when 'ex'o'essiv'e Wearo'ceiirs upon its'eiiterhal spherical surface. e'xcessive wear occurs inthe bell housing seat, it has eretofore been neces'saryto remove ordisassemble the associated partsof the transmission case. Moreovehsineethe wear occurs on both the exterior s'urfaee "of the bell housing andthe' inter'ior 'surfaceof th'e bellhousing seat, it is obvious that a sati'si'aot'ory repair will frequently necessit'ate the 'refi laeement bfboth-of these elements. Obviously, the prior art and prioreornineroi'a'l method of replaeing these 'parts required "a veryeonsi'derable expenditure of time and labor and were extremely costly.

's'therefo're a primary object of the inventibh to provide means forTeCOrld-ltiQhif-lg worn iepller shaft bell housing assemblies for festoring the same "to the desired exaetness and Ci$hs 0T -in theirj6ur'liia1-1-ih'g enga einent. v

A *very important purpose oi the invention 'further consists inproviding means in 'a'ceord'ance with the breeedingobiiectsfwhich may beinstalled anl ap iiied'vvithoiit thejneoes'sity 'for dismantling eitherthe rear end o'rthe transmission case as sentry er the car. v

A still 'iufther aim of the invention is'to pro- Vide' 'a repair meansin ae'coriiance'with the foreoin' g object's Which-shall be compact andof light Weight'and'inay be readily and directly installedvifithoutirequirin'g any further treatment or recohdi t onirfgbithe-Worn surfaces.

Another most important object of the invention i's't'o 'provide arel'i'a'irl'rrieans as set forth in the foregoieg'purpose which shall beuniversally applie'ab'l'e "to the diherie'rit spacings of bo lt holesfound in different models of Chevrolet ten housin -assembu'es.

And a final important purpose of the invention to bespecifically'enumerated herein, has "as its aim-the provision of a bellhousing assembly repail Lin it "as defined ill the preceding 'bb j''cts,which may readily be installed in the permissible ldh gitfidifialvaliatiolls 'in length which may be fi''ii'td in the 'conventionm proener Shaft and un versm joint assembly.

These, together With various ancillary objects 6f the ifIVCITt'iUn WhichWill later become apparent as the following 'desription proceeds, areattained by this dviea'apreferred embodiment of which has beenillustrated, 'by Way of example onlyin'the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure l a 'pe'rspefctive View of the bell housieg asseintlyrepair unit; g

FigiirE'Z 'i's "a'lver tiealseetiona-l viewthroug h the unit shown inFigure l,'"th'ecenters and radii of 3 curvature of the bearing surfacesbeing diagrammatically indicated therein;

Figure 3 is a group assembly view, shown in side elevation, with certainparts broken away and shown in section for illustrating the interiorconstruction thereof, of the associated parts together with this repairunit in proper position therein; and,

Figure 4 is a side elevational view, parts being shown in section,illustrating the method of applying and using the repair unit in a bellhousing assembly.

Referring now more specifically to the annexed drawings, wherein likenumerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, attentionis directed first to Figures 3 and 4 for a better understanding of theassembly with which the device is used. There is indicated generally atH) in diagrammatic form, a portion of the transmission casing of anautomotive vehicle preferably of the Chevrolet type. Extendingrearwardly from the transmission casing in, is a hollow casing orextension I2 through which extends the transmission driving shaft 14having one member l6 of a universal joint secured to the outer extremitythereof. The other member l8 of the universal joint assembly has thecustomary splined engagement with a splined end 20 of a propeller shaftwhich at its other extremity is connected to the differential mechanismfor driving the rear axles of the vehicle.

The universal joint members l6 and I8 are housed within a protectivecasing which is known in the art as a bell housing assembly. Thisassembly comprises a semi-spherical hollow extension 22 extendingrearwardly from the casing 12, which extension 22 is provided at itsouter end with an annular flange 24 which is customarily provided withfour bolt holes which are internally threaded for engagement by theretaining means of the bell housing assembly.

Customarily, a washer 25 is seated upon the flange 24, and is compressedbetween the flange 24 and a correspondingly shaped and bored flange 28carried by a retaining ring member 26 which is likewise sphericallysegmental in shape. Conventional bolts 30 extend through the alignedbores in the flanges 28, gasket 25 and flange 24 for clamping theseparts into fluid-tight engagement with each other and for completing aspherical segmental inner bearing surface carried by the members 26 and42 as shown in Figure 3, in the member 22. These segmental sphericalsurfaces constitute the bearin means for swivelly journalling thesemi-spherical enlarged hollow end 32 constituting a bell housing andhaving a rearwardly extending tubular bell housing sleeve 34 attachedthereto. The correspondingly machined forward end 36 of the propellershaft housing is slidingly received in the internal bore of the sleeve34, thus permitting relative longitudinal movement between the housing36 and the sleeve 34. It will thus be seen that as the front end of thepropeller shaft housing 36 slides backward and forward in the sleeve 34,there is likewise a slight up and down movement of the same which isaccommodated by the swivelling engagement between the bell housing 32and the inner spherical surface of the retainin ring 26 and of themember 22.

As a result of this swivelling movement, excessive wear eventuallyoccurs upon each of the bearing surfaces involved, as for instance, uponthe bell housing seat 42 of the member 22 as indicated in Figure 3, uponthe exterior surface of the bell housing 44 as indicated in Figure 3,and likewise although to a lesser extent upon the inner surface of theretaining ring 26.

In order to compensate for this excessive wear, and to restore theoil-tight sealing engagement between these relatively movable parts,which has been destroyed by the excessive wear, the insert elementindicated generally at 38 is employed.

This repair unit consists of a body having a flange 46 from whichextends a dish-shaped portion 48. The flange is provided with threeradially enlarged bosses 50 and with a fourth circumferentiallyelongated radial boss 52, a bore or aperture 54 being provided in eachof the bosses 50 for alignment with the corresponding bores in theretaining flange and bell housing seat flange of the bell housingassembly.

The fourth enlargement 52 is provided as shown best in Figure 1, with apair of bores 56 and 58, appropriately spaced for registration with thefourth bore of the Chevrolet bell housing assembly. As is well-known, inthe Chevrolet bell housing assemblies of passenger cars for the years1929 through 1939 and 1941 through 1947, the fourth hole is differentlyspaced from the fourth hole in the 1940 Chevrolet assembly. In both ofthese different types of assemblies, the other three holes correspond tothe apertures 54 and are evenly spaced but this fourth hole has adifferent spacing. The arrangement is such that a single repair elementmay be selectively employed for either of these two spacings ofretaining holes in the bell housing assemblies. Referring now to Figure2, it will be seen that the dishshaped portion 48 is provided with anexternal bearing surface 60 which is the segment of a sphere asindicated by the dotted line 62, having a radius 64 and a center 66disposed centrally of and in the plane of the forward wall of the flange46. The spherical segmental surface 60 is preferably of the same radiusas that of the worn bell housing seating surface 42 of the member 22,

whereby the same may be partially received within and seated upon saidsurface 42.

The inner surface 68 of the member 48 is likewise a segment of a sphereas indicated at 10, having the radius 12 and center 14. The center isdisposed centrally, of the plane through the rear or other vertical faceof the flange 46, and preferably the radius 12 is identical with theradius 64, it being noted that the distance between these centers 14 and66, as indicated at 16, is of substantially the same thickness as theflange 46. This inner bearing surface 68 therefore has the same radiusof curvature as the outer surface 60 of the repair element and alsocorresponds and is substantially identical with both of the surfaces 42and 44 of the bell housing assembly.

It is evident that different radii may be employed in variousembodiments of the invention. Thus, the radius 64 of the surface 60 maybe slightly larger than the original, unworn radius of curvature of thebearing surface 42, to compensate for and make a tight fit with saidsurface after the latter has been worn; while the inner bearing surface68 if desired may be of slightly less radius than that of the surface 44of the bell housing, in order to compensate for wear and make a tightfit therewith. Moreover, although the centers of the two sphericalsurfaces 66 and 68 have been shown disposed upon the centrallongitudinal axis of the unit, it is evident that other spacings andpositions may be resorted to.

Further, although a pair of apertures 56 and 58 have been shown in theflange 46, in order to permit the unit to be applied to differentspacings of apertures in the bell housing assemblies, it will be evidentthat elongated slots could be employed for this same purpose, whereby asingle unit can be employed to effect repairs in the above mentioneddifferent types of bell housing assemblies.

In utilizing the device, it is merely necessary to disengage the bolts35 release the retaining ring 26, and withdraw the bell housing 32 withthe sleeve 34. The universal members l8 and I6 may be then disengaged,and member IS withdrawn from the end of member [6 and the end of thetransmission driving shaft [4, whereupon the unit 38 may be interposedtherebetween and positioned as shown in Figures 3 and 4. Obviously, insome instances it may be found desirable to form the unit 38 in two ormore complementary parts, whereby the same may be inserted without thenecessity for disconnecting the universal joint members l8 and 16.

However, in the preferred form, the integral repair unit is positionedupon the gasket 25 and against the flange 24 of the bell housing seatingmember 22, and the bell housing 32 then inserted therein, and theretaining ring 26 drawn into position and the retaining bolts 30 appliedto the aligned apertures. As will be evident, the parts are then drawninto tightly clamped position, whereby the surface 48 seats tightly uponthe correspondingly shaped original bell housing seat 42, while thesurfaces 68 and 44 have a socketed, swivelling engagement.

It will thus be seen that this invention provides a replacement insertwhich may be readily interposed, with a minimum expenditure of time andlabor, between the bell housing and the bell housing seat of a bellhousing assembly and when so inserted will provide a new bell housingbear- 4 ing engagement for restoring the requisite closeness of fitbetween the bell housing and its seat, to restore the parts to theirdesired relationship.

Obviously, numerous modified and equivalent constructions will readilyoccur to those skilled in the art after consideration of the foregoingspecification and accompanying drawings and accordingly, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown anddescribed, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may beresorted to falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A repair unit for bell housings comprising a replacement bearinginsert having outer and inner bearing surfaces, said surfaces comprisingspherical segments of substantially the same radius as the bearingsurfaces of a bell housing, and a flange carried by said insert forattachment to a bell housing flange, said flange having circularparallel surfaces, the center of said spherical surfaces coinciding withthe centers of the circular parallel surfaces.

2. The combination of claim. 1 wherein said flange has aperturesregistering with bolt holes of said bell housing flange, and a furtheraperture means selectively registerable with variable spaced bolt holesof different makes of bell housing flanges.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said apertures comprise threeholes registerable with three corresponding holes of said bell housingflange and said further aperture means comprises a pair of aperturesselectively registerable with the variably spaced fourth bolt holes ofdifferent makes of bell housing flanges.

THEODORE C. GERNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 816,240 Mehlig Mar. 27, 19061,644,412 Bredar Oct. 24, 1927

